Representative JIm Neely's Capitol Report
Greetings, friends of the 8th Legislative District! I’m more than ready for autumn, as I’m sure you are! It’s been a long, dry summer. Looking forward to cooler days ahead!
Extraordinary Session Concludes with Passage of Bills to Develop Missouri’s Workforce (HB 3) and Help Missourians Battling Substance Abuse (HB 2)
Legislation that is now on the governor’s desk to be signed into law will encourage more students to take classes that better prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow and expand treatment courts to better serve Missourians battling substance addiction. The bills were passed by the General Assembly during an Extraordinary Session that was called by the governor.
The governor called lawmakers back in for the extra session to reexamine issues covered in two bills he vetoed. HB 2 establishes statewide standards for treatment courts, such as drug and veteran courts. HB 3 promotes STEM awareness and allows high school computer science courses to count toward graduation requirements for math, science, or practical arts credits. The House voted on Wednesday, Sept. 12 to send the bills to the Senate. Two days later the Senate approved the bills without making any changes to them. This week the House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem signed the bills to send them to the governor for his approval.
HB 2 will consolidate Missouri’s treatment courts – adult treatment court, DWI court, family treatment court, juvenile treatment court, and veterans’ treatment court – and update state statute to reflect the reality of the treatment court system today. It will allow for the expansion of treatment courts to counties that don’t have them, and it will allow an individual in a county without a treatment court to be transferred to one with a court if all parties agree to the transfer. Additionally, the bill will require the Treatment Court Coordinating Commission to establish standards and best practices for treatment courts.
As the bill’s sponsor said, “The treatment court bill not only saves taxpayer dollars through reduced recidivism rates, it saves lives. It transforms a defendant who is abusing drugs, suffering from mental illness such as PTSD, and committing crimes against society into an adjusted and employed citizen.”
HB 3 will institute a STEM Career Awareness Program for 6th-8th graders designed to promote careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The legislation will also require DESE to develop a high school graduation policy that allows a student to fulfill one unit of academic credit with a district-approved computer science course for any math, science, or practical arts unit required for high school graduation. The legislation is meant to better prepare tomorrow’s workforce for the many unfilled computer science positions in the technology industry.
The sponsor of the bill said, “What we need is broadening opportunities and this is doing that for kids … and at the heart of it that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with this bill.”
The chair of the House Workforce Development Committee added, “We know that from site selectors that are looking for where to place businesses that is the top item that they’re looking for in criteria is what is the workforce pool, and in order for us to be competitive not only within our state but with other states we have to increase the talent that we have, and this is certainly a step toward that.”
The governor announced his call for the extra session on Aug. 30 and legislators worked quickly to pass new versions of the bills that addressed the concerns he cited with his vetoes. The session’s costs were minimized because it coincided with the constitutionally-mandated Veto Session.
Yours in service,
Representative Jim Neely
Proudly Serving the 8th House District
Clinton, Caldwell, Ray, & Clay Counties
Missouri House of Representatives
573-751-0246
